A/N: Please see the intro for the standard stuff. Please R & R. It's a cheap gift. Hold onto your seats. This is a two parter. It was a little long for one section.

Meadow: Not much to Aw here. LittleCorinthian: Hope you are well on the road to recovery. RoadRunner: Thank you, thank you. Glad you liked it. RS: You should have never mentioned the happy place. I can't let you hang in the happy place. I will try to get back there before I have to go on holiday hiatus.

Bette sat munching a bagel at the kitchen table when Tess came out of her bedroom, rubbing her eyes. She blinked a couple of times at Bette.

"Well, if it isn't the prodigal roommate. Run out of food at Peter's again?"

"Mmmm." Bette kept on crunching. Tess started the kettle and leaned against the kitchen counter yawning. Bette looked her up and down and swallowed. "I might say the same of you."

"What? I'm here almost every night."

"Late almost every night. I'm guessing things are going well with that cop of yours."

Tess grinned and nodded. "Very well."

Bette nodded and grinned back. "Well, well, well. I haven't seen that smile in a while. I would say things are going better than very well." Bette waved her bagel at Tess. "You just be careful."

Tess rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mom."

"You stayin' in town for Thanksgiving then?"

"No. Over the river and through the woods. Ticket from Grandma arrived last week."

"I can't believe you go home twice in a month."

"Only at this time of the year. And I like my family."

"Don goin' with you?"

Tess poured the hot water in her French press and put the lid on. She glanced over her shoulder at Bette. "We aren't really at that point."

"Ah."

"Don't 'Ah' me. You've never taken Peter back to Minnesota."

"And with good reason."

"You need to fish or cut bait, Bette." Tess poured milk into a mug.

"I happen to be fine with the way things are, Tess. So's Peter. Why rock the boat?" Bette continued munching on her bagel. "Heard anything else from Alex?"

Tess didn't answer as she pushed down the plunger on the press. "Now who's rocking the boat?"

"Just asking."

"No. Why would I?"

"Dunno. Like I said just asking."

"Mmm." Tess poured her coffee into her mug. She took a long drink and sighed happily. "I got Don to go fencing last night."

Bette raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

Tess shrugged. "We had our regular Sunday thing at the club and I told him if he wanted to see me he had to come. He wasn't half bad for a beginner. At least, not once I convinced him to stop playing Robin Hood."

"I would have paid to see that."

Tess smiled. "Hmm. Blackmail. I hadn't thought of that. Need to take some video if I get him back there. Danny I'm sure would pay to see it."

"You have a devious mind, Teresa Nagy."

"I know. Don't tell Don."

Bette grinned. "My lips are sealed."

------------

Dawn was just filtering through the skyscrapers and casting a dim grayness through the city caverns. Don parked his car at the curb, got out and looked for the first on scene.

He spotted him waiting at the mouth of the alley. Don gave him a curt nod. "Great way to start a week. So what have we got?"

The officer walked with Don down the alley. "Female. Somewhere between 14-18. No ID on her. Just..." They got close enough to the body for Don to spot a familiar black and purple jacket. He recognized the weapon sticking out of the girl's chest and stopped dead. The uniform looked at him. "Detective?"

"They're not supposed to be able to do that. There's a protective tip on the end." Don gave himself a mental shake before he drifted off into babbling.

"Dunno. That's just the way the guy found her."

Don's head snapped up. He looked around the alley. He didn't really want to find out who the girl in the Hunter jacket was. The uniform nodded at a guy further up the alley talking to two other uniforms. He was dressed in a dirty fatigue jacket and kept rubbing his nose on the sleeve. Don stepped carefully past the dead girl, not looking at her. The uniform he was with gave him a funny look. Don walked up to the witness, pulled out his notebook and flipped it open.

"So when did ya come across the girl?"

The guy's eyes swiveled wildly around the alley. "Like I said…I had just come down here to find a place to sleep and there she was."

"Ya didn't do that ta her? Stick her and take her stuff?"

The guy's eyes flickered toward the body. "Naw, man. She didn't have no stuff. No bag. Nuttin'."

"Then how the hell did ya call this in?"

"I got a phone. For callin' my sister."

"For callin' yer sister," mocked Flack.

"Hey, Flack!" Don heard Danny's voice from the mouth of the alley. He turned, his lips set in a grimace.

"Messer. See ya got a wake up call too."

"Yeah." Danny had just spotted the body. "Geeze. Hey, Flack, isn't…"

Don dropped his head. "Yeah. She's from Hunter."

"Any ID?" Don just shook his head. Danny frowned at the body. "Is that a sword stickin'…?"

"It's a foil." Don could no longer delay the inevitable. He headed back down the alley to where Danny was crouched next to the body. He looked down and felt sick to his stomach. "Shit. I can ID her."

Danny's head snapped up. "The hell ya can."

Don wiped his hand over his face and worked at keeping his morning coffee down. He took a deep breath. "Her name is Angie Dominguez." Danny watched him intently. Don looked down at the glassy eyed face. He closed his eyes. "I'm done here."

"Whatdaya mean you're done here?"

"She's one of Tess' girls. One of her fencers. I saw her last night. At Karkov's Fencing Club. When I was out with Tess." Don picked up his phone and called for backup. "I'll be on the other side of the tape." He walked off with Danny staring after him.

------------

Don paced back and forth. "This is gonna kill her. I can't jus' let some stranger tell her someone stabbed on of her girls with…" He stopped and looked down. "Tess was very attached to Angie. She was like a little sister. I gotta be there. Ya can't cut me outta this." He looked up at his captain. "Come on, Cap'."

"Ya don't really have any place askin' for favors."

Don looked at the floor. "I know. I wouldn't. It's jus'…" Don looked back up at the captain. "Forget it. I shouldn't have asked."

The captain shook his head. "Ya can't talk ta her 'till she gives a statement. I'll let ya go down there." Don looked relieved and started to say something. The captain held up his hand. "If you've finished yer statement. That's the best I can do, Flack."

"Thanks, Cap'."

"I can't give ya the whole day off. Take a couple of hours, get things settled and then ya gotta come back and finish yer shift."

"I can do that."

"Go on then. Get yer statement done." Don nodded and went to find the lead on the case.

------------

A/N2: Becca now does a duck and cover. I will post the next part soon. Promise. Just tweaking a little.